Rising From The Ashes
by wintersayshi
Summary: Spencer Linderman had everything a girl could want until she ran away from the life that she once knew and the people that she called her friends. But six months later Spencer returns home manifesting abilities and finding that everything she once knew had changed in her absence such as her best friend Peter was suddenly suicidal and that was only the beginning of it...
1. Chapter 1

From an early age Spencer knew she was different and it wasn't always in the good kind of way, not that there was anything wrong with her as she was a perfectly refined woman but the life she had growing up certainly wasn't the usual way a child should be brought up. Born in Las Vegas Spencer was practically raised in a casino and by the time she was eight years old she was apt at several card games especially Texas hold em' taught to her by many of her father's employees, she was spoiled beyond endless means by her father who gave her anything that her heart desired. When she was ten her father sent her to New York to attend school with the youngest son of two of his old friends and according to Spencer that was the beginning of everything for her. Be it New York City itself or her new friend, something had a prefund affect on the young Spencer and as her father would later joke. Spencer had always been outsider, she had a different outlook on life as she got older it became more apparent. From the age of eighteen Spencer liked to do many things her father disapproved of such as constantly partying like it was 1985 and pretending to listen to what he told her before doing something completely different. Her father wanted her to go to college and study business and then learn the family business, Spencer decided to study English before becoming a teacher and even once he father had gotten over the news he expected her to go teach in private schools instead of the public school that Spencer taught at. When people found out that Spencer was a public high school teacher, the looks and warning she would receive from people were always the same but Spencer relished her job.

But in one night everything changed for Spencer, what started off as a day for celebration turned into a night of chaos, confusion, anger and many more things which basically turned the day into a bad one which turned into weeks and months after that eventful night Spencer had gotten her life straightened up. Sitting behind her desk, Spencer sat marking papers whilst having a thermometer sticking out of her mouth and taking it her mouth she sighed as she read the readings. _105° F _Spencer sighed, in the last few months her temperature had been fluctuating between normal and very concerning levels and her doctor had no idea why. Her temperature would be like that for a few days before returning to normal only to come back days later, that was the first indication that something was wrong and not long after Spencer found out why that was happening. She could do things that weren't exactly normal even by her definitions... it wasn't like Spiderman who was bitten by a radioactive spider. Her temperature as one of the things affected by what she could do now and she yet to master a reasonable amount of control over it and as a result she was always hot. Not that it bothered her all that much as she grew up in Nevada but even Nevada was cool every so often.

"Spencer Marie Linderman, as I live and breathe teaching at a public high school." A voice said from the doorway and Spencer looked up from the papers she was grading to see one of the last people she had expected and wanted to see. Nathan Petrelli; who just so happened to be running for congress and the eldest son of Arthur and Angela Petrelli who were old friends of Spencer's father and the older brother of Spencer's best friend Peter Petrelli. Their families apparently went back throughout the years as the recently passed Arthur Petrelli had been her father's attorney and Spencer knew for a fact that her father was contributing towards Nathan's campaign.

"What are you doing here Nathan? And better yet how did you find me?" Spencer questioned and not without a slight hint of hostility directed towards him as she stuffed the thermometer into her desk drawer. She wasn't exactly happy to see him as Spencer had gone out of her way to avoid seeing any of the Petrelli's for the last six months.

"It's been almost six months since we last saw each other and I'm met with hostility? What happened to the Spencer I knew." Nathan questioned avoiding the question he was asked.

"She moved away but please answer my question." Spencer retorted as she picked up the paper fan on her desk and began fanning herself, they weren't here to talk about Spencer and she didn't want to talk about herself. She wanted to know how Nathan had managed to track her down after she had spent the better part of six months flying under the radar.

"I'm running for congress Spencer I have a lot of contacts and people on my staff, it wasn't too hard to track you down."

Spencer laughed as she leaned back in her desk chair, she didn't believe for one second that Nathan got someone minimum wage employee of his to waste time looking for her instead of working on his campaign. "I'm not an idiot Nathan in fact the furthest thing from that so I'm going to guess that you called my father and after some tedious small talk he finally told you exactly where I was, so there's no point in trying to lie about it."

"Fine you got me, but what about you Spencer? I didn't peg you for the person who'd run away." Nathan quipped and Spencer allowed her self to grimace, she wouldn't exactly use the word run away to describe her Houdini act a few months back. But she really didn't want to get into that in the slightest.

"Whoever said I did? I just decided to go get up one day and go on an adventure." Spencer began with a small shrug of her shoulders, it was a blatant lie but Nathan didn't need to know that. "You know me Nathan, I'm kind of unpredictable like that."

"Which brought you here? To a public high school on the upper west side, not much of an adventure Spencer." Nathan questioned unable to hide his distaste as he looked around Spencer's classroom.

"To the man whose running for congress it may be but for a girl like me it is, breaking out of my comfort zone and venturing into the unknown rather excites me and sounds rather much like an adventure. But that's not the part that you don't get is it Nathan? It's the public school part." Spencer questioned as for people like Nathan and Spencer, who grew up in wealthy families, receiving the best education money could buy they didn't just turn their back on that to become a teacher. Sure Spencer could be swanning around embracing her status as a socialite and heiress, doing nothing productive with her time. But that had never been her, Spencer had always wanted to forge her own career and be her own person, instead of living off her trust fund.

"Come on Spencer, I can get my head around the fact that you want to teach but in a public high school? You could earn double what you're making now at a private school." Nathan said and his snobbery only made Spencer laugh despite the fact that she would have preferred to not have Nathan standing in her classroom.

"I've had this exact same conversation with my father a dozen times but believe it or not Nathan sometimes it isn't about the money, I became a teacher because I wanted to give something back and help the kids."

Nathan's snort backed up Spencer's knowledge that he wasn't a believer. "You and Pete are one in the same, always sprouting off the same nonsense."

"If I wanted a job that paid well than I would have become a stockbroker or an accountant and it's not like I even have to get a job with all the money my dad has but it's not about the money for me it's about the kids." Spencer affirmed although she knew she was wasting her time trying to make Nathan see the bigger picture here. He would never understand. Too egotistical to see past himself.

"Are the kids going to be looking after you in forty odd years?" Nathan questioned.

"Look Nate I don't expect you to understand why I'm doing this just like I don't have the faintest idea on why you became a politician -"

"-To help people and my country." Nathan interrupted.

Spencer smirked, she saw that response coming a mile away as it was such a typical thing for Nathan to say. "That's sorta of why I'm here, when I was a kid I never dreamed of being the president or being a rock star and it wasn't until college that I fell in love with teaching. The idea of giving something back and teaching the next generations is something that excites me because in my teaching career I'll possibly teach thousand of kids and as corny as this sounds but knowing that I'm making a difference in their life is something that satisfy's me. You never know Nate, the next John Keats, Virginia Woolf, Anne Rice or even the next Hilary Clinton could be sitting in here in one of my classes. You want to become a politician to make a change and that's commendable Nathan and you may look down on my career and that's fine too but what you need to understand is that I'm shaping the future here. Each day I am helping to shape these kids into the adults that they will one day became and they will change the world in their own way. Helping these kids through high school is enough for me as I'm teaching them something I love and it's all worthwhile to me regardless of the good and the bad. These kids may not be taking care of me in forty years but they will remember me Nathan if I've done my job correctly and that's enough for me."

"The high school teacher and the hospice nurse, how did I end up with you and Pete?" Nathan questioned in disbelief.

"Luck." Spencer retorted.

"But speaking of Pete that's why I'm here Spencer, he's been acting kind of off since the night you took off... I need you to go and speak to him and sort him out, Pete's becoming a bit of a problem."

"I left for a reason Nathan and I'm not coming back and as for Peter, he'll be fine. He always is…"

"Not this time, you know it's been a hard year for us all with the accident and then dad dying and I guess it got too much." Nathan started before taking a deep breath "Pete tried to kill himself yesterday Spence..."

That was news that Spencer wasn't expecting and she had to grab onto her desk chair to stop herself from falling back. "What?"

"He jumped of the roof of a fifteen storey building convinced he can fly... he'd been rambling to me about it hours earlier but never did I think he'd jump." Nathan rattled and all of this information was whirling around Spencer's head as she tried to absorb it all, the idea of Peter killing himself was hard to take in, after all the Petrelli's were catholic and she was sure that suicide was a sin in Catholicism. It wasn't just the religion part but this was Peter that her and Nathan were talking about he was more likely to be the person talking someone off the side of a building than doing the jumping.

"Is he okay? Pete's not dead...?" Spencer asked slowly as her heart start beating faster in her chest as she tried to ponder the idea that Peter was dead. But that same heart that was increasing in beats also told her that he wasn't dead because she'd know if he was dead. Call in it ESP or delusions but she'd known if Peter Petrelli was dead.

"Pete's in the hospital, luckily he landed on a fire escape and he's pretty sore but he should be fine in a couple of days." Nathan said as Spencer took a visible sigh of relief. "He could really do with his best friend Spence..."

"My mind is reeling at his news but this is Peter we're talking about for god's sake why on earth would he want to try and kill himself? The guy I left behind was fine. What on earth happened in six months since I had left to make him suicidal?" Spencer demanded and the moment that Nathan sat down in one of the desk she knew it was bad and she sat and listened as Nathan told her the dark Petrelli family secrets. According to him Papa Petrelli – as she called Mr. Petrelli since her teens – had a history of depression since his twenties and his heart attacks had all been suicide attempts including the one that caused his recent passing and they believe that because of Papa Petrelli's condition can be passed on genetically that Peter might have it. After Nathan had finished Spencer sat there in shock, if you had looked at Mr. Petrelli he wouldn't have seemed the type but then again depression wasn't one of those things that were obvious to everyone.

"Spencer?"

"What's Mama Petrelli saying about all of this?" Spencer finally asked as her mind finally stopped spinning at 10,000 mph.

"You know my mom Spence she's trying to make it sound like no big deal but it is, Peter spinning all this crap about how he can fly is a big deal. It's not normal and after dad I'm seriously starting to worry about Pete." Nathan slowly began. "You think you could talk to him Spence? I think he'll listen to you."

"I don't know Nathan, Pete and I sort of left things on a weird note before I took off..." Spencer said, thinking about the last time she had seen her best friend before shaking her head at the memory that really wasn't something she wanted to think about at the moment.

"Please? Even if he doesn't listen, having you around again will do him some good and he needs you Spence. He's missed you a lot and I think you missed him too…" Nathan pleaded and much to her dismay Spencer found herself caving into his request.

"Sure, why not? I've missed Pete and seeing him probably won't do him much harm and I kind of need to get answers out of him." Spencer relented and Nathan wrote down the name of the hospital in midtown that Peter was currently at. The eldest Petrelli thanked her again before making his way out of the door. "Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"How's Heidi doing these days?" Spencer wearily asked not sure how to expect Nathan's reaction about her inquiring into his wife but she was surprised when he smiled at her.

"Better it's taken sometime but she's getting there Spence, she'd love to see you and so would the boys... Everyone would love to see you so maybe you should think about coming out of hiding and come round the house again." Were Nathan's fleeting words as he left Spencer's classroom and left her alone with her thoughts.

"Maybe I will." Spencer said as she snapped her fingers and a small flame ignited from her fingertips after a few moments she extinguished it. There was something definitely going on here, she could naturally create fire amongst other things and her best friend was now convinced he could fly... That was sure to be an interesting conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

Spencer Linderman had been best friends with Peter Petrelli since she was ten years old, he was the first person her age she had met and she had immediately knew that there was something special about him considering the fact that unlike most boys their age he didn't mind playing with girls. Sixteen years later they were still firm friends, they had survived high school, interfering parents and college and come out the other end intact. Much of the woman who Spencer was today was down to his influence and easy going nature but then she took credit for getting Peter to open up and live a bit more. They were two peas in a pod and at times they certainly lived like that fuelling rumours that there was more to the two of them that met the eye. These of course were denied. In the sixteen years that she had know him Spencer had never been away from Peter for more than a week, well that was until she packed up and ran off into the unknown almost six months ago which is what brought her to this particular hospital, it had been months since she last saw her best friend and the surprise visit from Nathan made her come and see Peter from himself. Taking a deep breath Spencer opened the hospital door and walked in to see her dark haired and ever so gangly best friend sitting up in bed flicking through channels on the TV, which surprised her as she'd figured Peter would have been restrained if he had in fact tried to kill himself. But she quickly realized that having a suicidal brother would not look good for Nathan's congress campaign and knowing this family they would never let anyone know about their family problems so this was a cover up.

"Anything interesting on?" Spencer finally asked to alert Peter to her presence.

Peter surprised and very much taken off guard by Spencer's reappearance quickly straightened himself up and turned the television off. "Spencer..."

"Hey Pete." Spencer began with a small smile, it had been sixth months and Peter like always looked the same. Spencer doubted that Peter would ever change, he was still the same person he was ten years ago. The only thing that had changed was his hair which had gotten just a tad bit longer. "I guess it's safe to say long time no see."

"Yeah... What's it been almost six months since I last saw you?"

"So I got a visit from Nathan this afternoon telling me you tried to kill yourself by jumping off a building, wanna tell me what all that's about?" Spencer said straight away, the whole awkward thing was not her style nor did she want to dwell in it.

"Mom and Nathan think I'm depressed and that's why I jumped, apparently my dad was suicidal as well, those previous heart attacks he had were suicide attempts... It's been a crazy few days and it's hard to explain but I didn't jump off that building Spence. I was not trying to kill myself."

Spencer laughed as she stood besides the bed. "Good to hear because we both know I'm the crazy one in this duo and if you are crazy, god knows what that will make me? I dread to think of the diagnosis, although I certainly wouldn't be surprised if narcissism was mentioned several times. But here's hoping that they'll put us in the same facility for old times sake."

"You don't think I'm crazy?" Peter asked in surprise and Spencer shook her head.

"God no, though if you were it would totally be understandable." Spencer stated Peter shuffled in the bed and Spencer sat on the edge of the bed. So she had grown up in the best environment with the dad who was the suspected mobster and being raised in a casino but her family was not the Petrelli's. As much as Spencer loved them all, they did have their problems and made the Linderman's look normal. So the moment Nathan told her Peter had tried to kill himself alerted her to the fact that something was wrong bar the obvious. Peter kill himself? There was more chance of hell rising to the surface than that. Clearly there was more to what was going on than what Nathan had told her, so Spencer knew she had to come to Peter for the answers. "I believe you Peter."

"Where've you been Spence? I called you so many times and I went to your apartment and the school but you weren't there. I even called your father to see if he knew where you were but he wouldn't tell me a thing. You disappear for sixth months without a trace and now your back as if you never left…"

Spencer sighed and got up from the bed before slowly pacing up and the down the room, she knew coming back would raise questions especially from Peter and he would not drop it, until he got the answers to his questions. "I've been here in Manhattan this whole time Pete, well I spent a couple of weeks holed in one of my dad's hotels… Hiding in plain sight pretty much. I didn't want to see anyone so I did everything I could to disappear including changing my phone numbers, moving apartments, getting a new job and spending my days in idle bliss. I have to admit I did a pretty stellar job of it as not once did I run into anyone I knew but apparently it wasn't good enough seeing as I got a visit from Nathan a couple hours ago telling me that you were here."

"If it's about what happened with..." Peter began and Spencer grimaced, she would have preferred to not talk about this subject but she supposed it was inevitable.

"Of course it's about what happened, I cheated on my boyfriend by sleeping with my best friend and mere hours later I found out that he and his brother were involved with giving depositions to get my father indicted on what I presume to be on a numerous amount of charges and get him sent to prison." Spencer said finally stopping to look at Peter, he had never known the reason why she had disappeared until now. Spencer never gave him an explanation; she just disappeared into the night. "That's what caused my Houdini act… I overheard you and Nathan talking about the indictment the night of the accident at the hospital."

Peter seemed at a loss of words as up until now he had been unaware of Spencer's knowledge about the indictments against her father. "Oh."

"He's my father Pete..." Spencer began with a sigh. "Did you seriously expect that I wouldn't react the way I did when I eventually found out that my best friend was trying to get my father put away?"

"I know he is Spencer and if I had a choice I wouldn't have got involved but this is my family we're talking about. Heidi was paralyzed because of the accident." Peter replied in an attempt to defend his actions.

"You don't think I know that? God I love Heidi and Nathan to death but he is my dad! You know better than anyone that you can't pick your fathers and just so you know, it was never proven that he was behind the accident." Spencer said, wearily laughing at her statement, her father and Papa Petrelli were as thick as thieves but that didn't change the fact that she loved her dad.

"This had been a long time coming, Linderman is behind a lot of bad things and a lot of people have been hurt because of that... We had to do something."

"I know that there is more to him than the overbearing but oddly loveable eccentric man that he presents himself to be for my sake and I would rather pretend that I didn't know the things I know. Nobody has to tell me that Daniel Linderman is the type of guy who had any business in raising a little girl let alone by himself. But he did Pete, my dad raised me on his own and he tried like hell and for that I love him more than I do myself. He is the only person I love most in this world apart from you. I'm rather fond of the old guy because he is a good man Peter, to you he may not be but to me his is. He has given me everything I have ever wanted and is there for me 24 hours a day and I can turn up whenever I want and he will be there just like he was the night I left to talk him about the accident." Spencer said as she turned her head to look at Peter, Spencer wasn't stupid she knew that her father had suspected dealings with the mafia and other criminal activities. But that didn't change the fact that Daniel Linderman was her father and had raised her the best that he knew how after her mother and his wife had passed away from complications of childbirth.

"You spoke to him about the accident?" Peter slowly asked.

"Yeah… I flew home to Vegas and confronted him about everything and he neither confirmed nor denied it. I got slightly frustrated at his lack of co-operation and then he does that whole Jedi mind trick thing where he no subtly refers to the fact that he pays for everything of mine. I can never win with him and I think he likes it that way. But he is still my dad, the only parent I have ever known."

"You didn't come to the funeral." Peter stated after a few minutes. "I needed you there."

Spencer took a baited breath before slowly speaking. "I thought it was best considering everything that I didn't attend the funeral and so I didn't come but you didn't need me there, you've never needed me Peter it's always been me whose needed you but thanks all the same."

"So how comes I'm the one in the hospital and you here sitting all nice and pretty?" Peter retorted and Spencer couldn't help but smile.

"You're not really the kind of person to jump off a building, if you know what I mean? That's more my kind of thing." Spencer explained casually as she lay down on the bed next to Peter.

"Really, we have our own individual ways of killing ourselves? So what's my thing?" Peter asked.

"Well you're the kind of person who'd leave a note for your family apologising for what you did before swallowing a whole bunch of pills with some bourbon and getting into bed." Spencer stated with a smile. "Me on the other hand? I'm more likely to jump of a building... Well in my case accidently fall because I was playing around on rooftops drunk when I know better than that. It'll be tragic and all but no one would be surprised given some of the stuff I have gotten up to in my time."

Peter smiled. "I've missed you Spencer."

"I've missed you too Pete."

The two of them sat in silencer as they watched tv for a while before Peter looked at Spencer with a concerned look on his face. "Spence you sure your okay? You feel very warm."

Swinging her legs off the bed Spencer quickly stood up and tried her best not to look unsettled, the last thing she needed was for Peter to think there was anything wrong with her when she had come here to fix him. "I've been like this for a while now, I think I have the world's longest cold or something but it's nothing to worry about… Look I have to head off now, I've got lessons to plan and then over a dozen classes to teach and then I'm going home for the weekend -"

"You're going back to Vegas, why?"

"To spend some quality daddy-daughter time with my old man, apparently he wants to talk to me about something and it has to be in person and when he beckons I go because what would Daniel Linderman do without his beloved only child? Plus it's been a couple of months since I've been home and I miss it, along with the old man and his chicken pot pies." Spencer quipped as she made her way over to the door.

"Hey Spence!" Peter called and Spencer turned back. "Your not going to do another disappearing act on me, are you? Because I could really do with having my best friend around at a time like this…"

Spencer shook her head and gave Peter a cheeky wink. "No I think I'll stick around for a while, can't have you jumping off any more buildings can I?"


	3. Chapter 3

Spencer made her way into the lobby of the Corinthian Casino, which was one of the many hotels and casinos that her father owned in Las Vegas. The Corinthian was one of many places that Spencer had called home as she had spent the majority of her childhood living in and out of the hotels that her father owned. Even though she wasn't going to be home for long, Spencer relished any time that she was back in Nevada although she didn't have much time for the casinos. It was rather ironic given the fact that she had been primarily raised in casinos and was an heiress to several of them. But her father had always stated that as a good thing as it meant that she would never gamble away everything that he had built for her. Spencer never paid much attention to that as it was just another weird thing that her rather kooky father had said. Briefly glancing at her watch Spencer figured that given the time, her father would no doubt be in a meeting with the hotel's manager talking about the takings from last night. As she made her way over to the front desk, Spencer was pleased to see that Darwin, her favourite receptionist was working today. Darwin was an older man, in his late forties but Spencer had known him for over ten years as he was a very loyal employee of her father's.

"Good morning Darwin."

"Good morning Miss Linderman, it's good to have you home." Darwin greeted with a warm smile.

"It's great to be home Darwin and how many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to call me Miss Linderman anymore? I'm not a kind anymore not to mention you've known me for yeas. You can call me Spencer…"

"At least once more Ms. Linderman, as always." Darwin replied with a small smile as he slid over a key card over the check in desk to Spencer. She knew that Darwin would never cave and call her by her first name because she eventually would become his boss and there had to be that professional working relationship. "Your suite is ready and waiting for you as always and I will of course inform your father that you have arrived safely and will be settling into your room before he comes and joins you for lunch."

"Thank you." Spencer replied as she took the key card and made her way over to the elevators in order to get to her room which has number 666 because she was what her father described as a difficult but none the less the world's sweetest daughter. Spencer had a semi permanent residence in suite 666 and had done for the last thirteen years or so, when she'd come home from New York for the holidays she'd always stay in room 666 as such it was one of only three rooms in the hotel that would always remain vacant. Given that she was the daughter of the hotel's owner Spencer could have easily taken up residence in the penthouse but it wasn't really her style. Too big and way too fancy for Spencer's liking, she much preferred her suite. When she got to her suite Spencer didn't even bother to unpack, she never did when she came home for the weekend instead she sat on one of the many fancy couches in the suite and started reading a book. Until she heard a knock on the door less than an hour later and opening the door she saw her father standing there along Tim, from the room service department. Spencer smiled as soon as she saw her father, he had clearly gotten a bit older since she had last seen him but no matter how old her father got, the one thing that never changed was his brilliant icy blue eyes, the ones that always lit up whenever she saw him.

"There you are Spencer! How are you my dearest daughter?" Daniel Linderman began as he walked into the room and hugged Spencer before pulling back and giving his daughter an odd look. "Spencer you feel awfully warm… Have you been overworking yourself at work again? You'll run yourself into an early grave if you keep working the way you currently are."

"Dad, I'm not overworking myself." Spencer said with a small roll of her eyes as she took the food cart from Tim and gave him a tip for his service and moments later she was alone in her suite with her father.

"So how is everything Spencer? Anything new to tell your aging father? Or just something you want to talk about in particular?" Linderman asked as he sat down to eat his famous chicken potpies with salad with Spencer.

"Um… No everything's fine with me dad, work is great as always because I love what I'm doing and there's nothing really new to tell you. You know my life isn't that interesting anymore since I decided to be a fully responsible adult." Spencer said being half truthful with her father as there was no way she could tell her father about all the weird and freaky stuff that was going on with her with the whole fire and fluctuating temperature and those were only the mild part of it. Every couple of days she had woken up and Spencer could swear to god that she was hovering over her bed for before she crashed back on to her mattress. If she told her dad any of this he would have a heart attack and that was the last thing that she wanted. So she'd keep this to herself.

"Well that's very nice to hear as you know me Spencer, as long as you are happy then I am happy."

Spencer couldn't help but smile, her father may be a lot of things but her happiness was the most important thing to him. Not once growing up did she ever feel that his work as shady as it could be was more important that her of that her father did not love her with every fibre of his being and would quite often drop all his work at a drop of a hat just for her. Spencer knew that she was the most important person in her father's life, he had raised her mostly by himself although she did have a nanny up until she was fourteen. But regardless of that her father had been the most constant presence figure in her life, he had attended school plays, recitals along with Spencer's graduations. Sure her father hadn't been prepared to raise a baby girl by himself all those years ago. But he had tried and that was the most important thing to Spencer, although in her opinion he did a pretty swell job as she had turned out okay.

"That means a lot to me dad, you know I love you right?" Spencer questioned as she knew that she didn't tell her dad that she loved him enough considering everything that he had done for her. When she was a kid, Spencer could remember often finding her father sitting at his desk late at night going over some paperwork to do with the casinos. When she had asked him about it, Daniel would always say that he worked so hard for her, so that she could have the best life that he could provide for her as he didn't want his only child to have the life that he had growing up. Despite growing up in a casino, Spencer had a very happy childhood and memories to boot especially those of her father's floor manger teaching her the ropes of how the casino worked when she was twelve.

"I love you more Spenny."

"Speaking of happy, guess who I got a not so happy little surprise from the other day dad? Nathan Petrelli."

"Spencer…" Linderman began as it was clear he knew he was busted.

"Daddy I told you that I didn't want anything to do with the Petrelli's for a while yet and still you told Nathan who I was and he came and blind sighted me in my classroom the other day." Spencer said with an exasperated sigh. One of the few problems with Daniel Linderman was that he often forgot that Spencer was no longer his six year old daughter who depended on him for everything instead of the twenty six year old woman she was now. Although Spencer knew that she wasn't helping with that by getting him involved in the whole disappearing act of her, instead of facing up to her problems like an adult she had run back to her father like a child and begged him to help.

"I know that you wanted your space Spenny, but it seemed like they wanted something to do with you, I've had both of Arthur's boys calling me up and inquiring about your whereabouts Spencer for the last six months. As much as you didn't want to see them, they wanted to see you and Peter was calling me every week for three months." Linderman replied and Spencer frowned, as angry as she was about the whole thing given that she had specifically told her father that she didn't want to see the Petrelli's for six months at least, Spencer could never stay at her dad. It frustrated her to no ends but no matter what he did, it was impossible for Spencer to stay mad at her kooky dad for too long.

"You promised me dad, I know I didn't explain why I need to take some time away from the Petrelli's but I thought that you trusted and respected me enough not to tell them where I was especially after that night when I flew home and I told you that I needed to disappear for a while and get my head together." Spencer retorted, along with the freaky things that was going on with her there was no way Spencer could tell her father that she had slept with Peter again and that she had discovered that her best friend and his brother who were close friends of their family were trying to get him sent to jail. It would have broken his heart. That's why Spencer had left six months again, to protect both her and her father's hearts. If her dad had done to jail, it would have devastated Spencer as her dad wasn't getting any younger, he was getting older and he wouldn't be along for too long and prison was no place for him. Especially to die in.

"I know I did sweetheart and I had every intention to keep my promise but Nathan said it was a matter of life and death when he called and given how serious he sounded I knew I had to tell him where you were." Linderman explained and Spencer frowned as she knew her dad rarely made promises and when he did, he never broke them up until now. "So what exactly did he need you for?"

"Something is going on with Peter but it's fine, I spoke to him the other day and he seems okay but Nathan is just being way over the top about it considering how it might impact his campaign but I'm taking care of it. Pete's my best friend and he needs me right now and I wasn't there for him when Papa Petrelli died so I'm going to be here for him now despite the fact that I'm not ready to go back to everything I left six months ago but it's not like I can take off again as Nathan would no doubt track me down again and I can't keep running away from my problems. I have to confront of them..."

"Well I'm very proud of you regardless Spencer."

"You always say that daddy." Spencer couldn't help but point out and she watched her father's eyes soften.

"Of course I am always proud of you Spenny, you are my beautiful and vastly intelligent daughter and you have exceeded ever expectation I have ever had of you and then some. Your mother would proud of you, if only she could have lived to have seen the woman you are today."


	4. Chapter 4

Opening the front door to her apartment Spencer smiled as she saw Peter standing on the other side of the door, he was finally out of the hospital and she was back home in the city and so the two of them had to decided to meet up and talk, just catch up witch each other and try to get things back to how they used to be before she did their whole disappearing act. Spencer wasn't naïve, she knew things couldn't be completely like they were six months ago because of Heidi's accident and the whole thing wither dad but Spencer hoped they could try and work past that and get back to a good place as she had missed her best friend these last six months. Peter had been a big part of her life since she was a kid and walking away from him hadn't been easy but Spencer knew that in the long run, that six month separation had done the two of them some good. Spencer knew in that time she had grown as a person a bit more, matured ever so slightly and learnt to stand on her own two feet knowing that Peter wouldn't be there to stop her from getting into trouble.

"Nice place you've got here Spence." Peter commented as he walked into Spencer's condo that was located on the upper west side and Spence smiled as she and Peter made they into her living room and sat themselves down on one of the two large cream couches in the room.

"Thanks, my dad brought it for me as he can't help himself when it comes to my living arrangements. He always has to make sure that it's suitable for his little princess but it's great here, big enough for me and all my stuff and it's not too far from work, only takes me a twenty minute walk instead of the forty minute walk at the other school I was teaching at back when I lived in the lower east side." Spencer explained as she looked around, as much as she liked to assert her independence and make her own way in the world, there was no way that she could afford an apartment like this on a public high school teacher's wages. The apartment was one of the few occasions that Spencer allowed her father to splurge on her as she didn't want to turn into some spoiled and entitled brat just because her father was wealthy. He had worked hard for her money, not for Spencer to just blow the entire thing on clothes that she would rarely ever wear and jewellery.

"So how comes you aren't work today? I admit I was surprised when I got your call considering that normally you'd be in school right now reaching your second class of the day Ms. Linderman." Peter quipped.

"I haven't feeling good the last few weeks or so and my dad noticed when I was back home in Vegas and he told me that I needed to take some days off to recuperate or he would call in sick on behalf of me. So I'm off for a couple of days, I'm a big girl now and I don't need my dad to call in sick for me."

"How was going home to visit your dad?" Peter slowly asked as Spencer's dad was still a bit of a sore point for them both.

"Fine. We did the same old same old for the most part, we had our chicken potpies for lunch and I kind of had a go at him during lunch for him telling Nathan where I was. I love the old guy and I'm over it now but my dad promised me he wouldn't tell you or Nathan where I was. However Nathan did tell my dad it was life and death but a heads up would have been nice, I received quite a shock when I saw Nathan walk into my classroom; a public high school none the less looking for me." Spencer explained with a small frown.

"Speaking of Nathan, he told me that a reporter was digging into how I ended up in the hospital and so at his fundraiser last night he announced to everyone including the press that I tried to kill myself. There was no reporter Spence, Nathan did it because he's trying to protect me and the family or rather his image…" Peter said with a sigh and Spencer honestly wasn't surprised as this was a typical Nathan thing to do.

"Look Pete, you know I love Nathan to bits but at times your brother can be a first class jerk especially now that he's going into politics and I'll tell you this now, knowing Nathan and being a New Yorker I am actually quite worried about him being a congressman when he does win congress. It is down right frightening considering some of the things I have seen him get up to." Spencer quipped and it caused Peter to laugh. "Now you on the other hand? I always liked the dreamy kid, I found him to be much more interesting that the bossy boots who told everyone what to do."

"Hmm… Bossy boots wants me to leave the country as I've apparently become a liability, came over this morning to give me some cash. Kind of awkward when I had someone over at the time."

Spencer narrowed her eyes; there was something that Peter was neglecting to tell her about that but she was very much interested and wanted to hear more about it. "And this visitor? Was they of the female variety and did they stay over? Well I'm assuming that they did, so spill all the juicy details"

"Spencer…"

"Pete I'm your best friend, this is the kind of thing we talk about and so we had sex, okay? No big deal considering it wasn't exactly the first time it's happened over the years. Besides it's not like I haven't slept with someone else in the last six months." Spencer said referring to the fact that even though her and Peter were best friends and nothing more they had slept with each other, more than once. Current count actually stood at seven times. They had lost their virginities to each other when they were sixteen and sophomores in high school, than there was that time, the day they graduated, three times during college, new years a few years back the year they had both turned twenty one and then six months ago. Each time they had been drunk and it had been Spencer who had been the one to incite things, all those times they had forgot it and moved on and went back to being Spencer and Peter, that was until six months ago.

"You have?" Peter asked.

"That's not relevant at the moment and I can see what your doing Peter, so answer the damn question already! I have no problem talking about sex with you as who else can you talk to about sex other than the person you lost your virginity to? Honestly it's fine Peter, so go ahead and talk. I much prefer to hear about an adult's sex life then hear murmurings of one of my students as I'm walking down a hallway."

"Her name is Simone Devereaux, she is an art dealer and I'm her father's hospice nurse and that's it really. Things are complicated as she has this boyfriend who she just broke up with and she's not sure if she's ready for another relationship." Peter stated and Spencer frowned briefly as the name Devereaux sounded awfully familiar to her but she couldn't for the life of her place it at the moment. This was going to annoy Spencer until she figured out where she knew that name from.

"What is it with you and other people's girlfriend?" Spencer quipped and Peter's jaw just hardened and Spencer sighed, she probably shouldn't have said that but it came out before she knew what she was saying and now Peter was going to make a thing abut it. "That was a joke Pete, you were supposed to laugh.

"I think we need to talk about what happened six months ago." Peter argued.

Spencer shook her head, she had seen this coming as she knew Peter and she knew that he liked to talk about things whereas there were something that Spencer just didn't feel inclined to talk about. "No we don't have to talk about it Pete, it can be just like those other times where we forget and move on from it. I think we should instead talk about this whole jumping thing. Because while I do believe that you weren't trying to kill yourself I'm still at a loss as for why you jumped off the building in the first place. It's not normal Pete, you never claimed that you fell and you never denied jumping off the building, you just told me that you weren't trying to kill yourself. So what the hell were you doing friend?"

"We will talk about that Spence, just after we talk about that happened that night sixth months ago… You were there one minute and the next second you were gone and I couldn't find you no matter no hard or how far I looked Spencer. You can't pretend like it never happened or that none of it mattered." Peter began.

"Okay, you want to talk about that night? We got very drunk, slept together on the night of your graduation from nursing school after you had a party to celebrate. We had sex despite the fact I had a boyfriend at the time and later on that night Nathan and Heidi got into an accident. While we we're at the hospital I found out that you and your brother were trying to put away my father in jail as you believe he was responsible for the accident. The same man who has loved me and raised me every single day of my life by himself after my mother died after giving birth to me." Spencer yelled as she got up from the couch.

"I know you love him Spencer, I know that you dad means everything to you." Peter slowly said as he rose from the couch as well."

"Then why do that? If you claim to know how much my dad means to me then why would you try to take him away from me? Your supposed to be my best friend Peter and you betrayed me in the worst possible way. So that's why I ran! Because I was furious with you, I had never felt so hurt in my life so I ran away to Vegas where I got my father to help me disappear for a week whilst he set up a new life for me on the other side of Manhattan. Look I have never denied that my dad isn't perfect but your dad wasn't a saint either, he was involved in someway too but you didn't see me trying to get your dad locked up when he was still alive! There, we've talked about it so now it's your turn." Spencer bluntly stated as just talking about this subject more was getting her worked and the last thing Spencer wanted to do was lose her temper as things never ended up well when she did, even more so these days.

"Spencer, you're hand…" Peter stammered, his eyes wide in shock and Spencer followed his line of sight and saw that her right hand was engulfed in fire. This was exactly the reason why she didn't want to talk about her dad with Peter as it just got her worked up and when she got made the fire thing happened which Spencer had been trying to avoid. Now Peter was looking at her hand like she had grown three heads. This wasn't good at all.


	5. Chapter 5

Spencer was freaking out. As in losing her damn mind as her hand was currently engulfed in flames and that was something she was used to as it had been happening on and off but never in front of anybody else. Until now. Currently Peter was looking at her in disbelief like he was seeing a real life unicorn and Spencer was panicking as she tried closing her fists in an attempt to extinguish the flames but it wouldn't work. No matter how many times Spencer tried, the flames wouldn't go out and fearing that she would set her apartment on fire if she didn't deal with this problem quickly, Spencer ran into her kitchen and ran her right hand under the tap to get rid of it. Pretty soon the flames went out but Spencer was greeted with a face full of hot steam. For Spencer the timing of this freaky behaviour of hers was pretty bad as now she was going to have to explain this to Peter and Spencer wasn't even sure how to begin to explain all of this as she didn't have much of a clue about any of it. Taking a deep breath and then sighing, Spencer looked back in the direction of the living room as there was no way that she could avoid talking to Peter about this as no doubt, Peter wouldn't let this matter drop. Reluctantly Spencer headed back into her living room where Peter was still there waiting for her. He seemed to be taking this very well much to Spencer's surprise.

"Hey…" Spencer wearily began, not sure how to go about this as what did you say to your best friend after they saw your hand on fire? It was a tough one so Spencer went with the slow and awkward hey to break the ice and from there she would see where the conversation would do from there.

"Your hand, what was that?" Peter questioned.

"I don't know…"

"Spencer."

"Honestly I don't know Peter, yes my hand was moments ago literally on fire but I have no idea how it got like that. It's been happening for a while, one boring day everything in my life changed and I started doing stuff that no person should be capable of doing Pete." Spencer stated as she shifted around in an uncomfortable manner, very much aware that Peter was focusing all of his attention on her and after a few more moments Spencer sat herself down on the couch to stop herself from fidgeting. "Do you remember at the hospital when you told me that I felt very warm? I brushed it off as a cold but in reality I've been like that for a while. Abnormally warm with a constant temperature which no one can figure out. It started from there…"

"What do you mean it started out from there?" Peter questioned and Spencer sighed as she tried to figure out who to explain to Peter how all of this started, naturally she would give him the shortened version of whatever story she figured out to tell him.

"Well it clearly developed on from that as my hand was literally on fire a while ago, at first I tried to ignore it as I thought that I could just make it go away. I told myself that I was just over worked but there were nights where I'd wake up covered in sweat, having to stand in a cold shower for an hour at a time because I was so hot that I thought my body would explode." Spencer explained before getting up off the couch and walking to the corner of her living room and turning to face Peter. Taking a deep Spencer focused and moments later she felt a familiar sense of lightness and glancing down at her feet, she saw that she was hovering about 2ft in the air. Spencer stayed liked that for a couple of more seconds before her feet landed back on the ground and she offered Peter a soft smile. "The levitating thing has been going on for about a month of two and the fire thing about a few weeks ago. It just comes and goes on it's own accord and I'm not too sure how to deal with it, I just know that getting angry makes my hands burst out in flames."

"Why didn't you tell me about any of this?"

"Peter I can somehow produce flames from my hands, I couldn't tell anyone this out of fear of being sent to a institution or a secret government lab where I would be poked and prodded for the rest of my life. I couldn't take that risk so I have kept this to myself hoping that no one would ever find out about this as I don't know what the hell this is myself Pete. I'm a school teacher, a high school English teacher. Stuff like this should not be happening to me of all people. For some reason all of this started to happen to me one day out of the blue and there's nothing that I can do to stop any of it no matter how hard I've try." Spencer replied with a sigh as it was all so complicated but she felt marginally better about finally being able to talk to someone about it. There was a great sense of relief on Spencer's part that Peter was taking all of this on so well and hadn't run out of her apartment screaming like most others would do. But then again Peter wasn't like most people and had been putting up with her for about fifteen years and Spencer knew she probably could never get rid of Peter if she tried.

"I need to tell you something Spence, it's the reason why I jumped off the roof of that building. I promise you that there was a reason for it and it wasn't because I was trying to kill myself." Peter began and Spencer wasn't sure where exactly this was coming from or going, she had just explained to her best friend that she was some kind of freak with super powers like a mutant from those comics. Now Peter wanted to talk about the roof thing, Spencer wasn't exactly sure what to think about this.

"I jumped off the roof because I think I can fly." Peter announced, literally saying the last thing that Spencer was expecting him to say, she didn't know what she had been expecting Peter to say. However Spencer was certain that she never thought that Peter would say something along the lines like he could fly.

"You can fly?" Spencer sceptically questioned as that sound pretty stupid, well it actually sounded beyond stupid as people couldn't fly. It was impossible.

"Coming from you?" Peter retorted and Spencer had to admit that he had her there, she was so quick to dismiss the whole flying thing when she could produce flames from her hands and somewhat levitate. For that reason alone, Spencer should not be judging or dismissing the whole flying thing but she couldn't help herself, probably because a part of her was still in denial over this whole thing.

"Sorry." Spencer sheepishly said as she motioned for Peter to come and join her on the couch and after a few moments, Peter sat back down next to her. "So Peter, go ahead and start to explain all of this to me, what do you mean you think you can fly? You either can fly or you can't. I don't think it can be either Peter, it has to be one of them or the other."

"I can fly. Look it's complicated but I started having these weird dreams that I could fly but they were way too vivid to be dreams Spence. The night that I fell off that building, I attempted to prove to Nathan that I could fly but I fell and Nathan was there and he save me, that's how I landed up in the hospital but Nathan denied it. Whenever I brought it up he just denied and then my mom told me about my dad being mentally unstable and suicidal. But I knew what had happened Spencer, I knew that I wasn't crazy and so I called Nathan and got him to meet on another rooftop and I threatened to jump unless he told me what happened–" Peter explained and as soon as she had heard Peter talk about jumping off yet another roof, she could feel her blood pressure start to rise as she liked Peter being alive and safe. So hearing about him hanging around on roofs and talking about jumping off them made her very uneasy.

"–For god's sake Peter! What is with you and trying to jump off buildings, are you trying to kill yourself!?" Spencer demanded, she had taken off for sixth months and during that time Peter seemed to have developed a interest of jumping off buildings. Spencer was going to have to keep a close eye on her best friend and possible get one of those harnesses that parents got for their children in order to keep Peter from becoming a bloody pancake.

"Spencer! I told you already I'm not trying to kill myself, I've been trying to prove that I'm right and I was. When I was with Nathan I forced him to tell the truth, I made Nathan admit that the night I jumped off that building we both flew and he admitted Spencer! Then right there I was walking on ear without even realizing it." Peter revealed and once he was done, Spencer didn't say anything for a few moments as she was trying to process a lot of information. She could produce flames from her hands and levitate to an extent give or take several feet, Peter could fly as apparently so could Nathan. Spencer really could do with a midol and a strong drink.

"Nathan can fly too? Oh that's just great… How the hell did the three of us turn into the three biggest freaks this side of Manhattan?" Spencer questioned with a loud scoff as this information was really the icing on the cake, she wasn't the only freak running around New York, apparently her best friend and his big brother were ones too. It was mildly comforting to Spencer as she wasn't alone anymore and could now talk to someone else who was going through something familiar.

"There this book that explains everything that is going on Spence, it's called Activating Evolution and it's by a Dr. Chandra Suresh and inside it explains everything, it talks about human evolution and how some humans can emerge with advanced genetic mutations which result in abilities like me flying. You need to read this book Spencer as it explains all of what is going on with us." Peter said in an encouraging manner and Spencer wasn't sure what to think about all of this, Peter had pretty much confirmed her worst suspicions about herself; that she was indeed a freak with some sort of ability. It was a lot of information to process and Spencer wasn't even close to the acceptance stage of this all even with the information that there was a book out there which apparently explained it all, that knowledge just made Spencer feel worse about herself. The idea of accepting this whole thing was way too much for Spencer but Peter had already removed her from the denial part of it all so she couldn't go back to living in ignorant bliss, forcing herself to pretend like nothing was wrong and continue to live her everyday life.

Spencer didn't know what to do, so she did what she normally did in situations like this and went to go grab the tequila. Drinking wouldn't solve all her problems but they would make them disappear for a while and for Spencer that would do for now.


End file.
